Bent County, Colorado

A Very Brief Historical Sketch

Bent County has undergone several boundary changes throughout its history. In 1870 the Indian Reserve was divided into Greenwood and Bent counties. Bent County was created on February 11, 1870 from portions of the Indian Reserve lands and Las Animas county. Greenwood County was established on the same date. Greenwood county was dissolved on February 6, 1874 and split between Bent and Elbert counties. As years progressed, Bent County was divided into several other counties. On March 25,1889 portions of Bent went to the new counties of Cheyenne and Otero. Then, on April 11 of 1889, portions of Bent went to the new counties of Lincoln, Kiowa and Prowers.

Bent County was named for William Bent, who had established three separate forts along the Arkansas River.

Boggsville was the first county seat. Boggsville, south of Las Animas, was home to early settlers such as Thomas Boggs, Kit Carson, William Bent and John Prowers. Las Animas was platted in 1869 as Las Animas City. It was later moved to West Las Animas, another established community, with the coming of the railroad. West Las Animas became the county seat in 1875 and the "West" was dropped in 1886.

The area is abundant with history of the early days, where cultures came together and sometimes clashed. The Europeans, the Spanish, the Indians, they did eventually learn to live together, but sometimes, not without tragedy.

And...

BENT County, separated from Arapahoe by Elbert County, lies on both sides of the Arkansas river, and occupies the country of which Bent's fort was in ante-mining days the seat of such civilization as was found on the east slope of the Rocky mountains. It was organized in 1870, and named after the Bent family. It occupies an extent of territory larger than the state of Massachusetts, but is comparatively uninhabited, being almost entirely appropriated to the uses of the great cattle companies and owners, a single one of whom owns forty miles fronting on the river .Boggsville was the first county seat, which later was west Las Animas, the rendezvous of cattle owners and purchasers. East Las Animas, a few miles below, is another similar point. Both are on the railroad. La Junta, at the junction of the Pueblo branch, is a prosperous town. Besides these there are few worthy of note.' The Arkansas valley is adapted to agriculture, but the population of about 2,000 is devoted to the grazing interest to the exclusion of farming. The county of Greenwood was created at the same time that Bent was established, and occupied a part of its present territory, with Kit Carson for the county seat ; but it was abolished in 1874, and the present boundaries decreed, at which time the county of Elbert was set off.

THE WORKS OF HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT VOLUME XXV
HISTORY OF NEVADA, COLORADO, AND WYOMING 1540-1888
SAN FRANCISCO - Pages 575-575

Biography of William W Bent

BENT, William W., American fur trader and pioneer: b. Marietta, Ohio, 1809; d. near Las Animas, Colo., 19 May 1869. He became a trader and trapper on the Upper Missouri and, in 1826, with his brothers, Charles, Robert and George, helped to organize and establish the business of Bent, St. Vrain & Company in the valley of the Upper Arkansas, near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The permanent trading post of this firm, known as Bent's Fort, was built lower down, where the valley of the Arkansas emerges upon the Great Plains, 1828-32, and became one of the most noted places in the history of the surrounding region during the ensuing quarter century. In 1835, William Bent married Owl Woman, a daughter of White Thunder, the venerated keeper of the sacred bundle of "medicine arrows," the national talisman of the Cheyenne tribe. He gained great influence among the Indians, continuing to operate the trading business at Bent's Fort after the death of his brothers. He served a brief term as government agent for the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche and Kiowa tribes, in 1859-60, and, at various times he acted as a mediator in the settlement of troubles with the people of those tribes. In October, 1865, he served as a member of the government peace commission which negotiated new treaties with the chiefs and head men of the tribes of the Southern Plains in the council which was held at the mouth of the Little Arkansas River. Bent County, Colo., was named in his honor.

Consult ':Baskin's History of Arkansas Valley, Colorado';

also Kansas Historical Society
Collections' (Vol. VII, p. 327; Vol. VIII, p.
491; Vol. IX, p. 564; Vol. X, p. 113; Vol.
XI, p. 311).

The population growth of Bent County:

Year - Population
1870 - ...591
1873 - 3,850
1900 - 3,049
1940 - 9,653
1990 - 5,048
2000 - 5,998

"The Fine Print"

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This Site Created: 31 May 2008

Martha A Crosley Graham

Bent County Coordinator